THE BEAST AWAKENS!
INTRODUCTION TO PART TWO BY MICHAEL W. FORD During the time period of working with this grimoire, my “Chaos Magick” awakenings, the following chapter held many key points of focus. According to the Sinister Path tradition, individuals become possible nexions, or gateways to the Dark Gods. These forces manifest as archetypes deep within the subconscious and emerge as power points within the self. This is the active point of Magick in action. Specific methods act as collective points of various systems, presenting the most meaningful – for instance the use of vibrations in terms of encircling and allowing energies to be called to earth, this is similar to my own tradition of STAOTA in Yatukih and Luciferian Witchcraft.
Various aspects of sorcery as presented here will no doubt empower the Black Magickian. Equally so, such working may destroy you if you venture too far from your basis of experience and understanding. THE BLACK ORDER OF THE DRAGON, a Vampyric Guild I am High Priest of, utilized many of these techniques to the means of Predatory Spirituality in the 1990’s, there is no limit to the types of transformation magick found here.
With it said, AGIOS O ATAZAOTH!
Michael W. Ford
INTRODUCTION
The following chapters give details of various techniques of external magick, and these techniques are used to bring about a specific aim of desire. Those who wish to use them in a practical sense are advised to first read Appendix V (preparation or Hermetic Rituals) followed by Appendix II (Visualization Techniques). Also, if you have not already undertaken the Initiation as given in Part One above, this (or the ritual given in Appendix IV) should be done, since this, put simply, is an
‘introduction to the role of sorcerer/sorceress’.
Successful external magick to a great extent depends on the acceptance of this role: it is the opening of the gate within which leads to the acausal, that source of magickal energy. External magick – both hermetic and ceremonial – is a skill, the learning of which is one of the tasks of an Initiate following the sevenfold way. This learning is associated quite naturally with the magickal grade ‘External Adept’. The techniques given enable the fulfillment of desires, without restriction. One of these techniques – the ‘Dark Pathways’ – involves the drawing down/invokation of ‘dark/sinister/negative/chaotic’ type energies and in this sense is a ‘Left Hand Path’ working: that is, it is concerned with various areas of consciousness which are often misunderstood. The workings with the pathways may be said to be journeys into the darker sides of the unconscious (or ‘hidden consciousness’) of the psyche of the individual, and while these energies may be used hermetically that is, directed by desire toward a specific aim or intention – they can be used
‘internally’ to provoke/cause changes in the individual consciousness, aiding thus magickal development and self-understanding. In this
‘internal’ sense, when the energies are produced (by means given in the
‘Dark Pathways’ chapter) they are not directed, but left to produce images/sensations in the psyche (as per the workings with the spheres in Part One). Both types of workings are associated with the magickal learning of an Initiate – that is, they are undertaken before the Grade Ritual of External Adept, this Grade Ritual being a means of conscious integration of the experiences. (For the left Hand Path in general see Appendix O.)
ESOTERIC CHANTS
Esoteric chant may be divided (as far as the ‘Dark Tradition’ is concerned) into two parts: vibration of names and ‘Sacred’ or magical chant. The first type requires less skill and is the form most often used in ritual – for example, to create o ‘draw down’ a particular force or entity in a magickal working. The second type requires some musical ability or training since mode and tempo are important.
1) Vibration:
Vibration implies that each part of the word to be used, (either alone or as part of a text or key) is resonated deeply and this requires the person to be standing and the ‘solar plexus’ to be used to generate the deep breathing required, the mouth acting as a resonant cavity. The vibration should be such that it is felt in the whole body – a vibration is not a shout or scream but rather a prolonged concentration of sound energy.
For example, to vibrate the word ‘Satan’. Take a deep breath and sound
‘Sa’, for the length of that breath (not less than twenty seconds) trying to maintain the same level of intensity as the breath fades – then inhale quickly and vibrate ‘tan’ while exhaling the same manner as before.
Practice will enable the length of each part to be increased. To obtain the required ‘depth’ or power, attempt to project the sound in front of you to a point at least ten feet away.
The essence of vibration is control of the sound – it should be as even as possible and the same on all parts of the word or phrase. With practice, the relative pitch of vibration can be altered, although this is not as important as producing a powerful vibration since most magickal vibrations require power rather than finesse of pitch. Certain musical keys are associated with certain types of magickal force (for instance, the key of E minor is associated with ‘Satanic’ indulgence) and experience will soon show which key is appropriate to the force required. The
‘Enochian keys’ provide a good example of vibration used in the magickal sense consider the Third key: Nicma Goho Piad zir… ‘Nicma’
is vibrated as ‘Mic-‘ followed by ‘ma’, each part for at least twenty seconds. ‘Goho’ is “go-” and “ho” for the same length of time; ‘zir’ is one sound and so on. Thus it will be seen that the vibration of one Enochian key requires quite an effort, and correct vibration produces in the person (partly because of this) an altered state of consciousness as well as producing magickal results and effecting other individuals who may be present.
Each individual possesses what may be called a unique ‘vibration
signature’ or key at which the sound produced is most effective for them on both the personal and magickal levels, and this signature may and should be discovered by practice. Most women will naturally produce vibration at a higher relative pitch than men and their vibrations can sometimes be quite dangerous, while some men may produce vibrations that are disturbing to certain individuals.
Those who wish to master the art of magickal vibration should practice regularly, particularly within large resonant buildings, gradually increasing their ability of breath control and the power of the sound itself. Correctly used, short vibrations can startle people and render them immobile for some seconds. In certain circumstances, a powerful vibration can kill.
2) Magickal Chant:
Magickal chant is essentially monophonic and for this reason is generally (when it is written down at all) represented in Gregorian notation – as distinct from the ‘blob’ notation used in modern music.
Magickal chant is sung unaccompanied in one of the seven fundamental (or Greek) modes – Lydian, Dorian and so on, the modes themselves being representations of Septenary forces as described by the Septenary Tree of Life and the correspondences associated with it. There are three basic ways of performing this chant – by a solo cantor; by several voices in unison and by two cantors (or choirs) singing ‘vox principalis’ and ‘vox organalis’ a fourth or fifth apart as in organum. The music of this type of chant is similar to Gregorian chant sung in proportional rhythm and the texts used are usually magickal invokations or calls.
Magickal chant of this type is used for three purposes – first, as keys to the Abyss or to open various acausal Gates (as, for example, their use in the Nine Angles rite to return the Dark Gods to Earth); second as a means of producing magickal change in the world and individuals since certain chants are regarded as possessing special power if sung correctly;
third, to provide a framework which some individuals may use to presence on a day to day basis through such traditional forms as the Promothean Office, those aspects of the acausal which have been named variously as Physis and Tao.
The first two of these have often been considered to belong to the Left Handed Path, since they generally invoke/create various chthonic or dark/negative forces in consciousness, while the third has hitherto been used almost exclusively by those Adepts who, having passed the Abyss, live according to their own wisdom.
An example of the first of these types is given below – as used in the rite to return the Dark God Atazoth to Earth.
ESOTERIC CHANT AS A MAGICKAL TECHNIQUE I – The Modes:
The seven Greek modes correspond to the spheres of the Septenary (see Appendix I)
as follows:
Lydia Jupiter Phrygian Saturn Dorian Moon Mixolydian Venus
Hypodorian (or Aeolian) Mercury Hypolydian Sun
Hypophrygian (or Ionian) Mars
The modes used in esoteric chant are the ‘Gregorian’ or plainchant ones and these are related, according to tradition, to the spheres and thus the Greek modes thus:
Moon Mode IV Mercury Mode VI Venus Mode V Sun Modes VII/VIII Mars Mode III Jupiter Mode I Saturn Mode II
Hence, if a piece of chant is sung correctly in, for example, mode IV, then such a chant will be a re-presentation of the energies or forces associated with the appropriate sphere – in this case Moon/Nox. Such energies may be used in the manner of magick to: a) increase the consciousness/insight of those singing; b) be directed by will and visualization for a specific aim appropriate to the sphere; c) to be used to alter (via the acausal) the world itself.
Thus, esoteric chant is a form of magickal ritual – and a hitherto secret one. (b) and (c) above usually require two cantors singing a fourth apart in parallel (for dark/destructive workings) or a fifth apart (for constructive workings). (a) is usually undertaken by one individual and is internal magick.